Drafting the Raglan

So over the weekend I messed around with the Olivia pattern I'd mentioned earlier. My first try I semi-followed my patternmaking book's directions...so many of these things aren't made clear and you're left to your own devices for finishing. Which would be ok I suppose if one had any background in this sort of thing! I did it after E went to bed- my first mistake :P Should have at least measured her neck and I would have figured out that drafting only 3/4" in on the neck would be too narrow. It was good practice though- here's my first attempt (at least I'm not wasting fabric...all the fabrics are from tees that were stained or never worn...and I plan on making a bleached floral design on the turq/blue on (a quick project if I had an inverse of all my stencils lying around...which I do not. Someday E will be able to help me with the putzy finishings, and a Twins emblem on the other for a cute baseball tee). Ok, pic!:

See how narrow that is? The sleeve? I put my finger there to show about where I want the line to come on the next draft (I took some measurements along the neck and about 3" down from there to figure out how much I'd need to take the bodice seam in). Instead of redrafting from the original pattern I ended up slicing the needed amounts off the 1st draft and making the 2nd from that. It worked out fairly well...after tracing the shapes onto a new piece I trued the lines with my french curve.

Back view...not as bad, but still needed to widen the sleeve/draft the bodice in more.

Second tee:

Both together for reference (side note: my bindings are getting better each garment I make!):

Although I'm much happier with the 2nd draft, the rippling on the seam is bothering me. I'm not entirely sure if it's the fabrics (both tees have heavier fabrics for the body of the shirt and lighter weight sleeves) or the pattern...but I'm going to try and pinch out a little- that seemed to resolve the extra fabric problem there. Not entirely sure yet how I'll accomplish this...I might curve the seam a little bit less on the bodice...and make a dart to pinch out the fabric...but retrace so there won't actually be a dart in the finished shirt. Redraft the sleeve to match and then churn out one last (hopefully!!) shirt to test. I'd hate to think it's ok and do the nice project and end up with a dud! Oh well-it's all good practice for me. And really, I don't feel bad about this draft as I've searched the internet for raglans and MANY of the children's patterns have this same rippling...so I'm either as good as a pattern on my second try (not bad!) or hopefully the 3rd try will be better than a pattern I could buy. That would be nice :)

Here's my pattern after the 2nd draft:

After I perfect the pattern I'll be laying it aside in favor of a few quickie projects until my fall fabrics arrive from the coop...I'll be trying out some of the new french terry they have floating around...it's supposed to handle like a nice thick interlock- good for sweats, thicker tees, yoga pants, etc etc. It has a bit of lycra in it, which is important for the pants for recovery. I know many people out there like 100% cotton, but I find the tees and pants especially tend to distort without the bit of lycra for recovery. I got a bit of velour as well- I have a pair of velour yoga-type pants that have been well loved and show that :P So I'll make myself a pair or two...possibly a hoodie with it. Same with E...I'll probably salvadge my pants and make a pair for her out of them- love re-using! It's either that or the garbage...there's a lot of useable fabric left!

Ok...off to search the books for any info. on the alterations...hope to finish this tee tonight! I think I have one last grey tee I could use of mine that I never wear...then I'll be getting low on practice shirts lol! Although J bought me 4yds of this awful red ribknit from JA's for $1/yd so I can pillage that if need be :)